Slightly hazy amber yellow color with a thick one finger head with medium retention and leaving some laces.Aroma of bread malt, pineapple, melon and lemongrass.Flavor of mango, melon, spices, grass, pine, biscuit malt base, floral and mildly citrus hops, grapefruit, lemon and white wine. Dry, almost astringent aftertaste with a long lasting bitterness.Full malty body with appropriate carbonation. Alcohol of 7.4% is well disguised.Great British take on an American DIPA. Malty, but not overly sweet with enough hops to undertake it. Good mix between green, citrus and tropical. Very drinkable, especially considering the style. Love the Thornbridges.

Taste is very cedary, juicy (passionfruit), lemony, yeasty up front through the finish, some bread crust and pepper coming later.It has some definite but restrained sweetness and bitterness, balanced and slightly on the dry side. It has lingering zesty, engaging bitterness, light mineral quality, and a creamy, full feel.

T: Follows the nose. Slightly sweet upfront. Notes of watermelon, grapefruits, pine. Quite smooth with a medium but very pleasant bitterness in the end. A bit earthy and bready. Pale Ale style yeasts. Very light to a 7.4% ABV, no sign of alcohol

M: Medium and creamy body. Medium carbonation. Sweet pale malts + pine and citrus fruits in the aftertaste. However, its bitterness is not persistent

O: Excellent drinkability. Great British IPA with some American character

500 mL bottle picked up at the LCBO; best before March 20 2015. The last two Thornbridge brews I tried (Jaipur and Kipling) were both excellent and still count amongst my favourite pale ales of all time, so grabbing this one was reflexive more than anything. Served just below cellar temperature.

Pours a lovely golden-blonde colour, slightly hazy but obscured with countless flakes of, um, stuff. Nearly two fingers of foamy, eggshell-white head erupts at the surface, but recedes steadily over the next few minutes into an uneven, frothy cap and collar, leaving behind a doily pattern ring of lacing. The aroma is fruity and zesty, with a wide range of citrusy notes including lemon, orange and lime. Rather floral, with a hint of peach and pineapple. This is shaping up to be a solid one.

The first sip does not disappoint - this is a stellar IPA. A biscuity malt backbone is definitely present, but my tongue is far too distracted by the cavalcade of beautiful hop juiciness to care much about that. Tropical fruits figure in strongly - not only citrusy grapefruit and lemon pith, but also some pineapple and passionfruit. Apricot also comes in nicely, with the pear drop note (mentioned on the back label) providing a delectable sweetness toward the finish. There's some mild resiny bitterness in the aftertaste that lingers on the palate, likely thanks to the viscous, oily mouthfeel of this one. Medium-bodied, with a smooth mouthfeel and relatively mild carbonation. Thornbridge is quickly becoming one of my favourite UK brewers.

Final Grade: 4.39, an excellent A grade. Despite basically being a DIPA, Halcyon is extremely drinkable, which combined with its delicious nature could become problematic. I mean, I only picked up one bottle! In all seriousness, this is a fabulous India pale ale that is well worth the $5.25 price tag in this province. This bottle was bought out of town, but if I had ready access to this stuff I would be buying it by the armful. Great beer that I highly recommend to all hopheads, and would certainly buy again - all that good stuff. An ideal selection for my 650th review on BA.